'Jurassic Park 4' Director Is Colin Trevorrow, Not Steven Spielberg

Despite a rumored Steven Spielberg return, Universal Pictures has secured rookie director Colin Trevorrow to head "Jurassic Park 4," the fourth installment to the wildly popular dinosaur movie franchise, CBS reported. 

Thrilled to have director on JP4, Colin Trevorrow, an exciting young filmmaker who understands and respects the world that is Jurassic Park.

— Frank Marshall (@LeDoctor) March 14, 2013

"Jurassic Park 4" will mark Trevorrow's second time in the director's chair. The 36-year-old directed last year's film festival breakout "Safety Not Guaranteed."

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Joining the behind-the-scenes lineup are script writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver ("Rise of the Planet of the Apes"), producers Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley, and executive producer Spielberg, who directed the first two "Jurassic Park" movies. Joe Johnston directed the last sequel in 2001.

"[Trevorrow] met with the studio and filmmakers, and they felt he was a good match for the material, having grown up a huge fan of the trilogy and part of a new generation of directors steeped in all things dinosaur," Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr. wrote. "They felt he would preserve and protect the characters in the story they created."

Media critics are skeptical of Universal's decision to assign Trevorrow, a relatively unknown director with no 3D experience, to a mega-budget big studio film. The pressure is also on for "Jurassic Park 4" to perform well at the box office, as the third film was the series' least lucrative episode.

The dinosaur franchise has grossed a total of $1.9 billion at the box office worldwide since the first film was released in 1993.

The original "Jurassic Park" is being rereleased in April in 3D to commemorate the film's 20th anniversary. "Jurassic Park 4" is scheduled to hit theaters in June 2014 in 3D.

The "Jurassic Park" movies center on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. The first film was based on the book of the same title by Michael Crichton.

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